Music and art have played a role in building international solidarity with the struggle against apartheid. Musicians and artists from around the world joined in the call for freedom and justice, and their work helped to galvanize support for the anti-apartheid movement.

One of those artists was Hugh Masekela, who has recently been inducted into the Ertegun Hall of Fame. The South African late Jazz Maestro became the latest name to join the long list of Jazz greats to be inducted into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame at Dizzy’s Club Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on 16 April 2023. Masekela’s name is among such jazz royalty as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. 

Peter Mashabane speaks to Pula Twala about this achievement.